Monthly Archives: October 2015

By Heather Poole– Mashable contributor Heather Poole is a flight attendant for a major U.S. carrier. She’s also the author of the New York Times bestseller Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet. Follow her at @Heather_Poole Airlines take their reputation seriously. There are strict rules about what flight attendants like myself can and can’t do while in uniform. When I first started flying 18… Read Article →

By SARAH STEEGAR– I’ve heard it many times myself. Flight attendants confess that they no longer wear their uniform outside of the airport for fear of getting accosted with complaints about their airline from strangers. We all know this long, sad story of decline (at least for Coach and true First Class), but one perspective a crew member sees in our day-to-day experience is that unbundling fares often doesn’t come… Read Article →

By GENEVIEVE SHAW BROWN – woman who claims her family was escorted off a JetBlue flight on Tuesday says a flight attendant “antagonized” her family prior to the confrontations that she says led all nine family members to being detained. Keren Kimchy and her family — a total of five adults and four children — had boarded the flight at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and were headed… Read Article →

By Louzel Lombard for Traveller24 Cape Town – It seems as if it’s not only cabin crew members who have their share of fun at 33 000ft. Following the recent article Confessions of kulula cabin crew, more flyers have come forward with their bizarre travel experiences. Some passengers are as polite as the Queen Mother herself, yet others find it easier to blame airport officials and crew when things go… Read Article →

BY LOUISE PARKER– The pilot warned passengers before the emergency landing earlier today Passengers on board the British Airways Comair plane that made an emergency landing at Johannesburg Airport have praised the “hero” pilot who saved their lives by touching down without any landing gear. Jason Saunders, who was on the flight, said the female pilot did “super well” in keeping them safe. This comes after other passengers described the “scary”… Read Article →

911 wasn’t the only aviation disaster to happen in New York. The 1960 New York mid-air collision, also known as the Park Slope Plane Crash, was a mid-air collision between two airliners that occurred over New York City on Friday, 16 December 1960. The collision of United Airlines Flight 826 and Trans World Airlines Flight 266 caused Flight 266 to crash into Staten Island and Flight 826 to crash into… Read Article →

In June, United announced plans to move all of its p.s. (Premium Service) transcon flights to Newark airport on October 25, meaning yesterday was the big day. As of Sunday, all flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco are flying in and out of EWR, with flat-bed seats, Wi-Fi and on-demand entertainment in coach now available on all of the airline’s daily flights to those key West Coast markets. If… Read Article →

Air travel used to be a lot more expensive and exclusive before the industry was deregulated, and many airports therefore had a lot more amenities that were included in the cost of your pricey ticket. Of course, the events of 9/11 changed the design and operation of U.S. airports, as did technology and health concerns. See how many of these features, if any, you remember. 1. Observation Decks Plane spotting… Read Article →

Thousands of Los Angeles residents turned out to enjoy the “Discover Qatar Airways” pop-up event, hosted throughout the weekend at retail and entertainment complex The Grove, the airline said in a statement yesterday. The event celebrated the upcoming daily, non-stop service between Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), scheduled to commence on January 1, 2016. Guests of all ages enjoyed the Qatar Airways experience… Read Article →

By Jessica Plautz– If you think the big U.S. airlines have made big cuts to economy service, it’s only the beginning. American Airlines executives told analysts on Friday that the carrier would introduce “no frills” fares on flights beginning in 2016. The new pricing would likely be based on very basic service — including less seat selection, no snacks — but that’s about all we know for now. Budget carriers… Read Article →